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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Trudeau says Canada will ‘stand up’ for human rights amid escalating dispute with Saudi Arabia
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t backing down and won’t apologize to Riyadh as the Canada-Saudi Arabia diplomatic conflict continues to escalate, Steven Chase writes, saying this government will never shirk from raising human-rights concerns in other countries.
Asked if he would apologize to Saudi Arabia, Trudeau told journalists today: “Canadians have always expected our government to speak strongly, firmly, clearly and politely about the need to respect human rights at home and around the world ... We will continue to stand up for Canadian values and indeed for universal values and human rights at any occasion.”
He told reporters that Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland had conducted a “long conversation” with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister yesterday and that “diplomatic talks continue.”
His comments came just hours after that minister, Adel al-Jubeir, ruled out mediation in this dispute and warned of more measures to further punish Canada. He said it’s up to the Canadian government to make things right.
Separately, Saudi Arabia announced it has stopped all medical treatment programs in Canada and is working to transfer Saudi patients from hospitals there. The Saudi central bank and state pension funds also instructed their overseas asset managers to dispose of their Canadian equities, bonds and cash holdings “no matter the cost.”
China to hit U.S. with US$16-billion in additional tariffs
China is slapping additional tariffs of 25 per cent on US$16-billion worth of U.S. imports, from fuel and steel products to autos and medical equipment, the Chinese commerce ministry said, as the world’s largest economies escalated their trade dispute. The tariffs will be activated on Aug. 23, the ministry said, the same day that the United States plans to begin collecting 25 per cent extra in tariffs on US$16-billion of Chinese goods.
China’s final list announced on Wednesday differs from an earlier draft it published in June, which included crude oil. The number of categories of goods subject to tariffs rose to 333 from 114 in the June draft, although the total value is unchanged.
Tesla board evaluating CEO Musk’s idea to take company private
Tesla Inc.'s board said it was evaluating taking the company private, a day after chief executive Elon Musk surprised shareholders with the idea of launching the biggest leveraged buyout in history. Musk said on Twitter yesterday that he was considering taking the electric car maker private at US$420 a share and that funding was “secured,” without elaborating.
Tesla said today discussions over the past week had addressed how to fund such a deal, but gave no details. The statement on its website did not mention how the US$420-per-share price was established.
Some Wall Street analysts were skeptical of Musk’s ability to gather the huge financial backing to complete such a deal, given that Tesla loses money, has US$10.9-billion of debt and its bonds are rated junk by credit-rating agencies.
Gates’s testimony ends after Manafort lawyer chips away at credibility
Star government witness Rick Gates ended three days of testimony today after admitting he lied, stole money and cheated as lawyers for U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman and Gates’s former boss Paul Manafort attacked his character.
Manafort is the first person to be tried on charges brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Manafort made millions working for pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians before he took an unpaid position with the Trump campaign that lasted five months. Manafort is on trial for bank and tax fraud.
Gates, who pleaded guilty to charges in February and is co-operating for the possibility of a reduced sentence, testified that he helped Manafort falsify his tax returns, lie to banks to get loans and hide foreign bank accounts.
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MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index closed up modestly but not enough to reverse Tuesday’s decline. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed up 28.78 points at 16,315.08 as sectors other than energy, consumer discretionary and utilities climbed. In New York, stocks struggled for direction as falling oil prices and trade anxieties battled with gains in technology and financial stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 45.16 points at 25,583.75, the S&P 500 index closed down 0.75 points at 2,857.70 and the Nasdaq composite index was up 4.66 points at 7,888.33.
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WHAT’S TRENDING ON SOCIAL
The #torontoflood images were stunning after intense rainfall hit the city Tuesday night. But what really caught people’s attention is the dramatic rescue by police of two men who were trapped in an elevator in the basement of a building as the water poured in. It had almost filled the elevator when officers, treading water outside the elevator, forced the doors open with a crowbar.
TALKING POINTS
Why two words set off our diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia
“It’s not as if Canada has not criticized Saudi human rights before, but in this case, the inclusion of the words “immediately release” may have set this all into motion. While seemingly innocuous, this may have been too much for a Saudi regime already highly sensitive to criticism and looking to make an example of someone. The importance of these two words for the Saudi authorities could well be the insinuation that they do not have a real legal system with checks and balances and a due process. Like most autocratic regimes, the Saudis are often at pains to make the point, and have it accepted by outsiders, that theirs is a real system as one might find in any other country, and that a strongman cannot just order an arrested person released.” - Peter Jones, associate professor of public and international affairs at the University of Ottawa.
Don’t cheer ‘buck a beer:’ It is just cheesy populism
“If Mr. Ford really wanted to help the average beer, wine or gin fancier, he would blow up the hidebound Liquor Control Board of Ontario and the equally sluggish Beer Store. Any Ontarian who has seen the beer wall at a Quebec supermarket or the selection of ales and lagers at an independent British Columbia liquor store can only marvel at the variety. Even after the half-baked liberalization by the previous government that put beer in some (but not all) supermarkets, liquor retailing in Ontario remains positively Soviet by comparison. There is no earthly reason governments should be in the business of selling booze.” - Marcus Gee (for subscribers)
Downward envy: When bosses are jealous of employees, for better or for worse
“When employers feel their employees could go after their leadership position in the future, or may pose some other kind of threat, they strategically try to drive that employee down to negate that threat. They feel the need to take action – and because they are supervisors, they have the power and the resources to abuse their employees. Downward envy isn’t always counterproductive, however. If the envied employee is seen as ‘warm and competent’ – someone with potential but who is also a supportive and friendly team player – bosses are far more likely to push themselves to improve, rather than pushing the competition down.” - Lingtao Yu, assistant professor of business at the University of British Columbia.
LIVING BETTER
Congratulations, you just finished your workout. Now all you want to do is hit the shower. But if you’re not cooling down properly, you’re missing an important step. Cool-downs allow your heart rate and blood pressure to gradually return to their pre-exercise levels. This helps regulate blood flow, say Gareth Nock, a Toronto-based team training specialist with GoodLife Fitness, and prevents soreness in the muscles you’ve just worked. He recommends cooling down for about five minutes with an activity that mimics your workout but at a lower intensity: a brisk walk or cycle, for instance, after a heavy cardio session. Add full-body stretches focusing on the big muscle groups you’ve used the most during the workout.
LONG READS FOR A LONG COMMUTE
Some people think they drive better after a joint. The science says otherwise. Here are the facts on driving high
The sum of all the science – the driving simulations and on-road experiments, the cognitive testing, even the albeit mixed crash-collision statistics – shows clearly that there are far from “zero problems” with driving high, Erin Anderssen writes. Marilyn Huestis, a leading American expert who has been studying cannabis for 30 years, says that for non-daily users, it takes six hours for the effects of one joint to completely disappear. That’s even if your blood level of THC, the drug’s psychoactive ingredient, is low – an issue that creates additional complications for police testing suspect drivers for legal limits, and a public trying to abide by them. Occasional users perform more poorly than regular users in studies. But even for the pros, the danger exists.
At the same time, research does suggest that people who are stoned are more aware of their impairment than those who’ve been drinking – a self-safety check, undeniably, in their favour. Traffic collision statistics show that driving high increases the risk of a crash or collision, although by how much is still the subject of debate, and the overall risk is nowhere near as high as alcohol. Here’s a quick guide to Canada’s laws for cannabis and driving.
French master chef Joël Robuchon rewrote the rules of fine dining
First he cracked the code. Then he rewrote it. French chefs who covet Michelin stars study the restaurants that get them, and the ones that do not, before deciding where to devote their money and attention. If there is a formula behind the rating system, which for many chefs is an article of faith, almost no one figured it out the first time. Joël Robuchon, who died Monday at 73, came closer than anyone, Pete Wells writes.
Robuchon’s first restaurant, Jamin, was given one Michelin star in its first year. It got another in its second, and the next year it climbed to the top step, a three-star ranking. Robuchon was still in his late 30s. What could he do for his next trick? For most of his career he was restless, unsatisfied. At 51, he tried to retire; of course, it did not last.
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, his comeback, was staged in a former sushi bar in Paris. He retained the basic setup. Diners sat at a counter. There were no tablecloths, no chandeliers, no elaborately carved and upholstered chairs that might have come from a garage sale at Versailles. Food was cooked behind the counter by chefs dressed in the same black tunics the servers wore. Sometimes the chefs even placed the dish in front of the diner. The French daily Le Figaro summed up the general reaction when it proclaimed, “C’est une revolution!” If you think the Figaro was overreacting, it is because the revolution succeeded. Today, expensive dining is more likely to mean stools and a counter than dining tables on a sea of carpeting.
Evening Update is written by S.R. Slobodian. If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday evening, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.